Children of Flesh and Bone
by NecroPriestess
Summary: Humans either fear what they don't understand, or worship things that they envy. While the majority of Tokyo feared the ghouls, there's a small faction that worships them as 'angels'. Beings meant to save us from ourselves, and bring us a period of peace. Once the CCG catches wind of them, they send Shinohara and Juuzou to infiltrate the church, and bring them down from the inside.
1. Intestines

**Title: Children of Flesh and Bone**

 **Summary: Humans either fear what they don't understand, or worship things that they envy. While the majority of Tokyo feared the ghouls, there's a small faction that worships them as 'angels'. Beings meant to save us from ourselves, and bring us a period of peace. Once the CCG catches wind of them, they send Shinohara and Juuzou to infiltrate the church, and bring them down from the inside.**

 **Triggers: Gore, blood, sexual situations, religion(kinda).**

 **Pairings: Suzuya JuuzouxOC**

* * *

Shinohara had seen a plethora of twisted and downright evil things since he came to work at the CCG. He'd seen ghouls use humans as slaves, had to report to grieving parents that their children were eaten alive, and had seen entire rooms bathed in blood and intestines. Over time he'd become completely desensitized to it all, and was completely convinced that there was no such thing as a good ghoul. No one good, or sane for that matter, would commit such heinous acts against their fellow man. However, it was this type of behavior he expected from ghouls, because they were the monsters. They were monsters hidden behind a human mask, but he'd never seen humans hide behind a ghoul mask.

He stepped over the disemboweled corpse of a young woman, as he entered the dimly lit pet shop, a stack of papers in one hand and his quinque case in another. A foul metallic smell hit him straight in the face; however the smell was warranted thanks to the carnage all over the room. There was blood splattered all over the pet cages, the display window, and a few splatters even made it to the ceiling. He stared down at the topmost paper within his stack, before looking back up at the macabre crime scene. "Are you sure the eyewitness saw humans?"

A young investigator nodded, and pushed up her thin rimmed glasses. "He was certain that all of the assailants were human. Apparently they kept talking about their humanity and how it was disgusting compared to the sanctity of 'angels'."

"And by angels you mean ghouls." He sighed and turned to his partner, a young boy barely twenty that was staring at a trembling dog. "Juuzou, what do you think?"

The boy turned to stare at his partner, red eyes wide and a smile on his thin lips. "I haven't had to fight humans in a long time, this'll be fun~."

Shinohara shook his head. "I'm sure it will be, but before we just start picking fight with humans we need to investigate. This is the fifth attack this month, and the brutality is just getting worse. It's important we catch the right people."

The boy had turned back to the dog cage, no longer listening to his partner. Shinohara sighed and carefully made his way through the crime scene. The further he got into the store the more disturbing things seemed to get. There were marks smeared in blood, most of it in a script he couldn't understand, while others were grotesque images of eyes, hearts, and what he assumed was supposed to be angel wings. His eyes narrowed as he followed one that was closer to the tile floor, this one had a bit of white sticking to it. The investigator bent down and picked up the bit of paper by the corner and brought it up to the light. It seemed to be a business card of some sort, with words printed in bright red lettering a brown cross in the corner, and a telephone number printed in black at the very bottom.

"Saito-san, take a look at this." The young woman hurried over, her camera in both hands. "This is in English, right?"

The woman's brown eyes narrowed before she nodded. "It's American English; it's a business card for the _Teaching of Saints Christian Church_."

Shinohara handed her the card so it could go with the rest of the evidence that they'd gathered for the case thus far, before calling his partner to attention. "Juuzou, looks like we finally got a solid lead."

* * *

Lily yawned as she tapped a pencil against her bible, staring at the biology notes she had tucked discreetly inside. "I think everyone in the church should help clean up." She mumbled as her mother passed her by with a broom in hand. "It'd make the work go faster."

Her mother tapped her with the tip of the broom, earning her a blank stare. "It would go by faster if _someone_ helped us clean up, Lily." She gestured to the rest of the small room with her free hand. It was mostly clean, just some dirt on the beige carpet and the fold up chairs in disarray. "I know you have a test tomorrow, but taking of five minute break to help your father with the chairs won't ruin you."

The girl sighed and shut her bible before getting up and going to her father. He was a tall man with a bald head and plenty of muscles, she never though that he looked like a pastor, more like a space marine. "Are you putting them in rows or circles?"

Her father set down the chair he had just unfolded. "Rows today, I'm thinking we'll only do circles on Wednesdays." He handed Lily a chair, and she opened it and set it next to the chair he'd just opened. "We'll be installing our pews next month, Helena and I will be looking at some of the models over the weekend."

"The angels are letting you guys choose?"

Her father nodded. "The angels have more things to concern themselves with than the decor of our church." He handed her another chair. "So tell me a bit about your studies, are you doing well?"

Lily indulged him with the small talk, going over her grades and how she hoped to raise them by five percent before the end of the semester, and how her tutoring sessions were going with her friend Sana. As they talked they continued to set up the chairs, and before they knew it the entire first half of the chairs were set up in front of the wooden podium. As they went over to the other side, the double doors opened and a tall young man walked into the church, he held a bible under his left arm, but looked like he was ready to go onto the set of a movie instead of a bible study with his slicked back hair and multiple piercings in both ears. Both Lily and her father stopped what they were doing and bowed low to the man until he passed by and walked up the stairs to the podium. "Angel Kurokawa, I was told you wouldn't make it this week."

The man waved a hand as he sat in one of the three seats behind the podium. "I managed to slip away; you know how much I enjoy your sermons, Father Mc'Knight."

Lily remained silent and continued to set up the chairs, letting her father exchange pleasantries to the ghoul. It was considered rude for her to speak to an 'angel' without being addressed, and even if it wasn't, she probably wouldn't go out of her way to speak to him anyway. Kurokawa was a slippery man, and half the time she felt like she was being examined instead of spoken to. Every time there was a news report about young girls missing, she half expected the culprit to be Kurokawa. She unfolded the last chair and took a step back, raising her hands and making an awkward square with them as she examined her handiwork. Once she was sure all the lines were even on both sides, she went back to her original chair in the corner of the room, just to be once again stopped by her mother. "Lily, do you mind getting some water from the store? I forgot your father's at the house; he's going to need it so his throat doesn't get dry during the sermon."

The girl bobbed her head in the direction of her biology notes. "I was going to use the rest of the time until praise and worship to study…"

"I know dear," Her mother pat her head, an action that annoyed Lily. The woman had been doing that since she was seven years old, and hadn't quit even though she would be turning sixteen soon. "but this is very important. I promise I'll let you go home right after church, you won't even have to help us put anything away."

Lily's ears perked up at the offer. It always took them a full hour to put everything away, which means she would have an extra hour she could use to study her notes before they went out to lunch. She held out a hand. "I'll need some money, I left my wallet at home."

Helena took a wallet out of her pocket and fished out a credit card. "Just go to the convenience store across the street, he only needs water, nothing fancy."

Lily put the card in her jacket pocket, before heading out the door and to the convenience store as her mother asked.

* * *

By the time Lily made it back to the church, it was crowded with over sixty people. Everyone was yammering to each other about their week, bits of church gossip that wouldn't be too scandalous, and looking over the announcements her mother had made up earlier that week. She held the cold bottle of water out at arm length and pushed her way through the crowd to get to the podium. Every so often she was stopped by one of the church members who would greet her and, unfortunately, pat her head. It was a terrible habit that they had picked up from her mother, but unlike her mother, she couldn't complain about it to them.

When she was finally within reach of the podium she tossed the bottle of water to her father, who mouthed a thank you. She just shrugged and hurried to her seat in the fourth and final row, her bible in one hand and notes in the other. She plunked herself down and leaned back in her chair, holding her arms close to her body as she tried to keep warm. "Just a few more hours, just a few more hours."

She fought down a groan as someone sat next to her. She was almost certain no one would sit next to her; it was practically a taboo for anyone to sit this far back with so many seats available. She glanced at the person out of the corner of her eye, and bit the inside of her cheek to keep her features blank. The person, because she really couldn't tell their gender, was rather eccentric looking. White hair, red eyes, and clothes that didn't look the least bit appropriate for church. Next to them was an older man who at least had the decency to wear a suit, but was even bulkier than her father, something she hadn't seen since she left America.

She caught the white haired person's eye for a moment, and she quickly looked away. A cowardly move on her part, but she really didn't want to begin a conversation with them. She didn't like strangers very much, and she was even worse off when she had to mind her manners. In Japan, they seemed to be far more conscious of them than back home. Even though she'd been living in Tokyo since she was eight, she still had a hard time keeping up with politeness. She was jolted out of her thoughts when she felt a buzzing in her pocket; she pulled out her phone and clicked on the text message that appeared.

" _Hello, Mc'Knight-san."_ She frowned and typed in a quick message before putting her phone away, just for it to buzz almost immediately. _"My name is Shinohara Yukinori, and I work for the CCG.I was wondering if you would be comfortable enough to answer a few questions."_

The CCG? They were the people that took down ghouls and made sure public order was kept concerning them. A wiry smile escaped her defenses as she stared at the text message, she always knew the CCG would figure out about the church, she had only hoped that she would have been in college and away from her crazy family by then. And yet here she was, getting interrogated by an investigator within the very blasphemous church she called home. She typed in a quick text and sent it, only for another one to appear just as quickly as last time. _'I cannot disclose the exact reason why, but I promise that if you cooperate, that you will not get in trouble regardless of what happens."_

So if she helped then she would get out of trouble. That meant that once the church fell, she would be considered nothing more than a victim. Maybe even a hero since she was providing answers for the CCG. A thought suddenly formed in her mind, it was a cruel one, something that probably made her rather despicable compared to even her parents. She once again typed in her answer and waited for the investigator to respond. When he did her eyes widened and she had to hold back another smile that almost escaped. _"Yes, you may have a recommendation, and your visa will be assured."_

" _Then I accept."_

She flinched when she felt a hand touch her shoulder, and she turned to the strangers next to her, a mild glare set on her face in order to try to scare them off. However, it melted away when the bulky man began speaking. "It's nice to formerly meet you, Mc'Knight-san, I'm Shinohara Yukinori and this is my partner Suzuya Juuzou."


	2. Eyes

**Title: Children of Flesh and Bone**

 **Summary: Humans either fear what they don't understand, or worship things that they envy. While the majority of Tokyo feared the ghouls, there's a small faction that worships them as 'angels'. Beings meant to save us from ourselves, and bring us a period of peace. Once the CCG catches wind of them, they send Shinohara and Juuzou to infiltrate the church, and bring them down from the inside.**

 **Triggers: Gore, blood, sexual situations, religion(kinda).**

 **Pairings: Suzuya JuuzouxOC**

* * *

Lily just stared at the two agents sitting beside her, eyes wide and mouth open. She was sure she looked completely uncouth like that, if not a complete idiot, but she couldn't wipe the look off her face even if she tried. She was honestly surprised that two CCG agents had infiltrated the church. Not only that, but they had been right under her nose and she hadn't even _noticed_. She flinched when the boy tapped her chin and forced it upward, trying to close her mouth for her. "She really is surprised, Shinohara-san. Look, her mouth won't close by itself."

She swatted his hand away and shut her mouth so quickly she bit her own tongue. She ignored the pain in favor of putting her blank expression back in place. She prided herself on managing to appear calm in nearly every situation; the fact that she managed to break within only a moment of meeting these strangers stung her pride and ego.

Shinohara stood up from his chair. "Do you mind coming with us to the office? I have some things to show you; maybe you'll be able to tell us what they mean."

Lily glanced back to the congregation, they were still bustling around and greeting each other, and if she did go they probably wouldn't even notice she left. On top of that, her mother said she didn't have to help clean up. That was almost two hours that she could be missing, and she wouldn't have raised any alarms. On the other hand, these two were CCG agents, and even though Shinohara had promised nothing bad would happen to her, she hadn't gotten any official papers or anything. She was going off of his word alone. "I don't think I can," She said. "I mean, I can't just sneak out like that. My parents would get upset if they noticed I was gone."

It sounded like a solid excuse, and she didn't even have to lie. If her parents noticed she was missing she was sure all hell would break loose. Her father would likely have to restrain her mother from tearing Tokyo apart, while he prayed down curses on the city. Both rather ineffectual things to do in that situation, but still, you never messed with a worried parent. Especially ones that had infamous, or downright disturbing connections.

"I understand but-" Shinohara was cut off as Juuzou grabbed Lily's wrist. She opened her mouth to protest, but it went into a full on yelp when he lifted her and threw her over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes. "Juuzou, you can't just manhandle her like that!"

The girl punched the skinny back, and winced when her fists made contact. Apparently the boy, she could tell thanks to her legs being bumping against his flat chest, was just a mass of skin and bones. Every place she tried to hit him was boney and hard, not an ounce of soft flesh on him. If ghouls ever tried to eat him they'd be sorely disappointed. "Let go of me!"

"Hmm," He opened up the double doors, letting a cold breeze sweep over her body. "nope~! If you really wanted me to let you go, all you needed to do was scream. If the people didn't hear you, the ghouls would."

"That's not a good excuse Juuzou." Shinohara said, walking right behind the duo. His large body was more than enough to shield them from prying eyes. "You could have blown our cover if she did scream, and you should never manhandle a lady."

"She's not moving much now." He poked her butt, but she didn't say a word. Her body shuddered against the late winter cold, and she was desperately trying to push her arms further into her thick trench coat. She was almost thankful when Shinohara opened up the door to a shiny black Sedan, and Juuzou haphazardly tossed her inside, and shut the door behind him. Lily remained on her back for a few moments, trying to get her shuddering under control.

She nearly groaned when the door opened up again and Shinohara climbed into the driver's seat. He looked into the mirror and gave her an apologetic smile. "Sorry about him, he's a bit rough around the edges, but he's a good kid."

"Uh-huh."

The door opened up once again, and just as if he was summoned, Juuzou popped into the passenger seat. "Let's go, Shinohara-san, I wanna go eat breakfast!"

The man backed out of the parking lot, an amused smile on his lips. "If you got up on time you could've had some this morning."

"But we had to get up sooo~ early!"

The two began to casually bicker, well more Juuzou than Shinohara, as they merged onto the main road. Lily silently watched from the backseat, slowly straightening up and buckling herself in. If they really were going to send her to prison, then wouldn't they have put her in handcuffs, or at least locked the doors? She curled her arms around herself and slouched in the back seat, doing her best to stay unnoticed for the rest of the ride.

* * *

The Eleventh Ward CCG office was a behemoth made of glass, which towered over a sea of small brick buildings. The girl had never gone anywhere near this building since she moved to Japan, so it was almost like a small adventure. However, she probably would have appreciated it more if it was warmer, or she wore more layers, or if she hadn't had to leave her house at all. She followed Shinohara and Juuzou into the building, crossing her arms and nuzzling her nose into the collar of her coat. As she walked through the glass double doors, she passed by a pair of guards. Both stared at her as she entered the building, but didn't say anything to her. She wondered if it was because she was with Shinohara and Juuzou, or they had been warned of her presence beforehand. Her train of thought meandered off as she entered the actual building. It was far more welcoming than she thought it would be with the plush chairs set out in groups of three, potted plants set in the corners, and a smiling receptionist causally talking to a female investigator.

Shinohara went up to the desk and gestured to Lily. "I need a guest pass, please."

The woman dismissed the investigator, and turned her full attention to Shinohara and Lily. "Okay, name, ID, and medical ID please."

"Mc'Knight Lily, but I don't have any of the other things you asked for."

The woman looked up from her computer. "I'm sorry, but you can't go-"

"It's fine, Watanabe-san." Shinohara said, and put a heavy hand on Lily's shoulder. "She's with me, if she causes any problems I'll take full responsibility."

The woman shook her head and passed him a card that had a silver circle next to the CCG logo. "The last time I heard that, you ended up stuck with the culprit." She gave Juuzou a hard stare, but he was too busy picking at the stitches in his arms to notice.

Lily took the card and pinned it to her coat. "Thank you, Shinohara-san."

He waved off her apology as they walked to an elevator and he clicked a button on the pad. "It's not a problem, I've already looked through your medical files anyway, I know you're human."

"You did?"

They stepped into the elevator, and this time Juuzou slammed a button on the pad. The door closed with a ding, and the elevator jolted upwards. "I had to be sure that you would be trustworthy. From your files I found out that you're a hardworking student, haven't gotten into trouble, and you're Japanese is solid."

"That doesn't really mean anything though," She said. "I could be secretly rebellious or something. Always beware the silent ones."

Shinohara just chuckled, but said nothing more on the subject as the elevator door opened with another ding. They went through the halls and to a small office that had a window on the southern wall, a metal desk, a spinning chair, and piles of paper littered all over the desk. Juuzou skipped over to the chair and dived into it, causing it to spin around from the force of his fall. "I call this chair!"

Shinohara pulled out a cushioned fold up chair from his desk. "You can sit here, Mc'night-san. I already took out the evidence so you can look over it, hence the mess."

Lily sat down in the chair and pushed herself up to the desk. There were a ton of papers that had some things scratched out, photographs of eyes and hearts painted with red, and her father's business card dyed in red. In the far corner, almost hidden away by papers, was a black photo frame with a picture of a blonde woman and three children. "What is all of this?"

"Evidence," Shinohara said. "it's things we found during our investigation so far. Most of it is based on hear-say and theories, but if you can identify any of this it will help us get one step closer to stopping the murders."

The girl picked up a photo of a mangled body. The chest was ripped open, and the eyes were gouged out of the face. Lily shook her head and put down the photograph. "I'm not sure how the church has anything to do with this. If this is a human, doesn't that mean that ghouls are the culprit?"

"Don't you worship ghouls, Mc'Knight-san." Juuzou said, still spinning in his chair.

"Yes, but we don't encourage _murder_."

"Ghouls eating humans _is_ murder." Juuzou's chair slowed down, until it finally stopped so that he was facing her. "If you kill someone then you're murdering them, it doesn't matter why you kill that person, or if you're doing it because you have to."

"Juuzou…" Shinohara said, his voice had a hard tone as if warning him of something.

Lily's eyes narrowed and she picked up the business card. Ghouls killed in order to eat humans, but that didn't mean her family had anything to do with it. The humans' job within the church was to worship the ghouls and allow them to guide the humans to a peaceful existence. Lily wasn't stupid enough to believe that ghouls were magical beings sent from paradise, but she doubted that they'd send humans along a murder spree. The CCG was weary of ghouls, and the police was more than happy to cart humans off to the CCG if they so much as hinted being ghoul sympathizers. Having humans do these types of murders would put the entire church in jeopardy, and consequently, the ghouls that the church worshipped.

She put the card back down and picked up another photograph. This one was of a blood splattered classroom, that had a bloated corpse laying on top of a desk with a slit neck. Unlike the last corpse, it looked like the woman had been taken care of quickly. "Drowning."

"Hm?" Shinohara leaned over her shoulder to take a better look. "You found something?"

She pointed to the first photo. "This woman was killed brutally, as if the person who did it was enraged. But this body," She pointed to the bloated corpse. "It looks like she was drowned before they just slit her throat. If they were killed by humans, then maybe the thing they did to 'deserve' it was different?" She pushed through the sheets of paper. "Are there anymore corpses?"

Shinohara grabbed a file from under the stack and opened it up. "These are all of the corpses we've found, and their identities."

A school teacher, a pet shop owner, a flight attendant, a doctor, and a taxi driver. All five were Japanese, and they lived within the Eleventh Ward. However, that was the only thing that connected them, everything else about their lives were completely different. Even the ways they were killed were different; some had their bodies ripped apart, while others were bludgeoned to death. "If a cult or church did something like this," She said slowly. "then wouldn't they do it based on sins?"

"What do you mean?"

"In Christianity if you do something wrong that means you sinned." Lily said. "If you don't get your life right before you die, then you get sent to hell."

"So these people did something that caused them to get sent to hell early?" Shinohara shook his head. "It's a good theory, but none of these people have a record-"

"It doesn't matter," She said. "it could have been anything. Lying, cheating, and even not bothering to convert…" Her eyebrows furrowed as she went over the last statement in her mind. At the beginning of the year, there was a push from her father to get others to convert. That had been the focus of almost every bible study for the last month, and her father had even encouraged her to send out fliers for the bible study at school.

She leaned back in the chair, biting hard on her inner cheek. It could be a coincidence that the murders had started after her father got fiery about conversion, but they had managed to find one of those business cards. It was printed recently, since her mother had changed the style for the New Year and they hadn't been passed out yet. She craned her head back when she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Mc'Knight-san?"

"Lily."

Shinohara frowned. "I don't-"

"You can call me Lily. My last name is stuffy and sounds weird." She tensed for a moment before pushing herself up. "Anyway, on the off chance that it's my parents leading these murders, and not the ghouls, I'll keep my eye out."

The older investigator smiled, she wasn't sure why he was happy, but she decided not to impede on it. "Thank you, Lily-chan. Your cooperation will help us crack down on this investigation and save lives."

"O-of course."

* * *

"Ah, I'm so hungry." Juuzou whimpered, his face pressed against the glass of the car. They were on their way back to church, with a little under five minutes to spare.

"Can we stop and get something to eat, Shinohara-san?"

"Not yet, Juuzou." Shinohara turned into the church's crowded parking lot. "After church we'll go get something to eat, I promise."

The boy groaned and slid in his seat, his white head full of hair disappearing from view. Lily unbuckled her seat belt as Shinohara parked the car. "Um, Shinohara-san. How are you going to contact me without being suspicious? I don't have many friends, and I'm not very talkative with new people."

"I've actually already thought of that." He said. "Juuzou will go to you if you need anything, or if I need something from you. You're both around the same age, so it won't be nearly as suspicious if I went to you."

Lily bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing. She doubted sending Juuzou could be counted as 'discreet'. With his white hair, red stitching all over his body, and his ridiculous clothes, he'd be engrained in anyone's memory. The boy perked up in his seat and twisted around to look at her. "It looks like we'll be partners, Ri-chan*. I've never been in charge of someone before."

"Ri-chan?" She shook her head at the silly nickname. "And anyway, you're not in charge of me, I'm just relaying information or evidence to you in the case that I can't hand it over to Shinohara-san." She said as she opened up the car door and got out. Even outside she could hear her mother playing the final prayer song on the old keyboard. "Besides Juuzou, I can't even fight or help you take down the ghouls. I'm basically an over glorified informant of sorts."

Juuzou stumbled out of the car and followed after her. "Yeah, but I can still tell you what do since I'm an investigator and you're a civilian."

Shinohara opened the door for the both of them and they went back into the church. Everyone was milling about and gathering up their things. Clearly the final prayer had finished, and since she didn't see her mother in a panic or her father holding her back, they hadn't noticed she left. Part of her was hurt by this, the fact that they were so involved in their church that they seemed to have forgotten about her, but another part was thrilled. She'd never snuck out before, and doing it for the first time left her feeling more excited than guilty. It was as if she was a secret agent, and she'd made it back just in time before the authorities knew about the secret plans and exploits.

"Shinohara-san-" She looked up, but the man was already gone, along with his colorful partner. She shook her head and went back to her seat, eager to get in her hour worth of study time. In this case, she really felt like she earned it.

* * *

 **Translations:**

 **Ri-chan: Lily would be pronounced Riri. Juuzou is latching onto the first syllable and calling her a very childish or cutesy version of her name.**

* * *

 **Review Response:**

 **pancakes21: Thank you so much. ^_^ Yes, I'm changing up a lot of the scenes so it feels fresh, and not like a slightly better rehash of the same story. And yes, poor Lily has no idea what trouble she's signed up for.**


	3. Back

**Title: Children of Flesh and Bone**

 **Summary: Humans either fear what they don't understand, or worship things that they envy. While the majority of Tokyo feared the ghouls, there's a small faction that worships them as 'angels'. Beings meant to save us from ourselves, and bring us a period of peace. Once the CCG catches wind of them, they send Shinohara and Juuzou to infiltrate the church, and bring them down from the inside.**

 **Triggers: Gore, blood, sexual situations, religion(kinda).**

 **Pairings: Suzuya JuuzouxOC**

* * *

Lily leaned over her table; back hunched and legs tucked under her as she scribbled on her math worksheet. Her phone was sitting in front of her playing a heavy metal song, and her text book was leaning against her lap and the table. When she finished a problem she robotically plucked an apple slice off her plate and bit into it as she started a new equation. It was early evening and her mother had gone out to see a friend, while her father was at the church conducting a marriage counselling session. She liked evenings like this when both of her parents would leave. It gave her time to relax and study without her parents trying to get in the way. It wasn't that she disliked them or anything, but at times she really wished she had a sibling for them to dote over. She reached out for another apple, but her fingers skimmed empty plastic. Muttering to herself she stood up from her table, the book clattering to the floor, and her back and legs popping thanks to being in the same position for over an hour.

"Good grief," She muttered as she padded out of her room, plate in hand. "I really should stop skipping lunch."

As she entered the kitchen she slammed a hand over her mouth to muffle her screaming. Going through her refrigerator was none other than Juuzou, one hand hanging off the metal door while his head was practically submerged in the small fridge. Once she got her breathing under control she decided to address his appearance. "Um, Juuzou, is there a reason you're in my house?"

The boy took the last green apple out of the fridge and lifted it up to the light, and moved it around, as if inspecting it in a grocery store. "Shinohara-san and I are searching your house."

"Shinohara-san is here?"

The boy bit into the apple, but wrinkled his nose and spat out the half chewed chunks into her sink. Lily bit into her cheek and heavily exhaled through her nose. The boy didn't seem to notice her irritation, however, and tossed the apple into the trash before opening up the cupboards. "Yeah, he went through the front door, I climbed up the building."

Lily's eyes trailed over to the window in the living room, and noticed for the first time that it was open and the white curtains were billowing with the breeze. "Is there a reason that you did that?"

"I wanted to." Was his answer, before shutting the cupboards. "You have almost nothing to eat here, you know that."

Lily turned on her heel and marched out of the room. She wasn't exactly sure what she did, but clearly she was being punished for something. Any investigator in the entire CCG could have figured out what happened in the church, yet here she was cursed with a wild child that didn't seem gifted with any common sense. She flinched when she heard her front door open, but almost relaxed when she heard Shinohara's deep voice carry through the house. "Lily-chan, are you home?"

The girl slowly backed up and went back to the hall corner, and peeked her head out. "Yes?"

The man gave her a warm smile. "Good evening, we're not interrupting anything, are we?"

"No…" She pulled herself out of the hallway, and stuffed her hands in her skirt pockets. "But how on earth did you know if my parents were home?" She bobbed her head towards Juuzou, who was snooping through a bookshelf. "He just climbed through a window."

"We've set up a perimeter around your apartment building," He said. "If there's any sign of ghoul activity, your parents, or any threats we'll know about it." Shinohara took something out of his coat pocket and held it out to her. Lily went over to him, and her eyes widened when she saw what was in his hand. They were small black cylinders that were no longer than her pinky finger, and had small screens placed on the front. She picked one up and held it to her face. "They're cameras," He said. "we'll be installing them throughout your house."

"Huh?" She dropped the device back in his hand. "D-do you really need to?"

It wasn't that she had anything to hide per se, but it was the idea of someone watching her every move. She was a young woman after all, there was some things she didn't want anyone watching, especially people she had to actually work with. She didn't do anything as weird as sing into her hair brush, or model in front of the mirror, but she still had her moments.

Shinohara went over to the bookshelf, and carefully put one in between a bible and her parent's marriage photo. "It may seem intrusive, but it's made to quicken the investigation," He said. "I promise we won't keep any of the recordings and everything will stay between the three of us."

She stepped back when Juuzou pushed past her and picked up one of the cameras and dangled it in front of her face. "It's just a little camera, Ri-chan." He leaned forward, his nose only inches from her's, she could practically smell something orange and tangy coming off his breath. "You don't have anything to hide, do you?"

"N-no-"

"Then it's fine." He skipped out of the room and down the hall. "I'll set up the one in Ri-chan's room!"

"Hey!" She scurried out of the room and back to her own. Juuzou was already looking through theone of the bookshelves in her room, tossing her text books onto her bed only a few feet away. "Juuzou, stop it!" She rushed towards him and grabbed his wrist, but he easily pushed her away without even looking at her, causing Lily to stumble backwards.

The boy laughed and pulled out a bright pink book. "You like to cook?"

Lily yanked the book from his hands. "Yeah, so what."

"I didn't think you could," He set the camera in between a few copies of her horror magazines. "you don't look like you're good at anything." He dusted off his hands when he finished his task, and spun around to look at her, his head tilted to the side so he could get a better look at her. "You're not very fast, and your punches aren't that strong either. I didn't even try that hard to push you, and you almost fell."

She flinched when he tapped her head. "Hey-"

"You like to do brain stuff though, right?" He gestured to her second bookshelf that was right next to her bed. "You've got a lot of books; I can't read most of the kanji* to them."

Part of Lily puffed up in pride upon hearing that, while the other part was curious. Most of the kanji wasn't that hard, it was the type of thing you expected to find in the average high school book. They were books that were given to her by her Japanese teacher to get her to challenge herself. Since Juuzou was an investigator, and debatably older than her, she would have expected him to be able to read it all easily. "I prefer math equations and puzzles. They're a bit hard, but really fulfilling once you manage to figure them out."

"That's pretty stupid." His tone was almost cheerful, as if what he was saying was actually a compliment instead of an insult to not only her intelligence, but also her person. "You can't do anything if you just try to out think someone. Your brain can't kill a ghoul before it uses its kagune, or rips you in two. If the ghouls find out what you're doing, you'll be dead before we get here to save you." Lily opened her mouth to disagree, to try and make a smart comeback to justify herself, but nothing came as he pat her head. "And that's why there's cameras! Because you're completely hopeless, Ri-chan. Oh, and whatever it was Shinohara-san was talking about in the car."

She watched the boy leave her room, her mouth and mind still trying to come up with some sort of comeback. What he said was true in part, there was no way that she'd be able to fight against a ghoul if one attacked her, but that didn't mean that he had the right to insult her that way. She had worked hard to understand her studies, and be the very top of her class. She hadn't allowed the language barrier, her rather limited education, and a plethora of other problems get in her way. She had pushed them all down in order to prove to her parents that she could get along just fine, and she had succeeded doing that multiple times over. This boy didn't know her, and she barely knew him, so why was his criticism irritating her this much?

She crossed her arms over her chest and marched out of her room and back into the living room. Juuzou was standing on the couch and placing a camera on top of their light fixture, while Shinohara was moving about in her kitchen. Juuzou seemed to notice her immediately, as he jumped down from the couch. "Hey Ri-chan, can you cook for me sometime?"

"Why?"

"I can't cook." He said. "Well I tried to, but Shinohara-san's wife get's upset when I try to help her. She says I add weird things to the food, so I can't help anymore or I'll make everyone sick. I can't practice on my own either, so I don't cook at home."

Shinohara came into the room, hands in his pockets and a disturbed look on his face. "You added fish sauce to cake."

"The recipe said it was orange cake."

"With actual oranges."

Lily shook her head, she wasn't sure if Juuzou was just dense or if he honestly though it was supposed to be an orange colored cake. "I can't promise anything; maybe the next time you come around I'll make a proper orange cake."

The boy's face lit up and he practically bounced in his spot. "Ah, thank you, Ri-chan!" He turned back to his mentor, who was slipping his shoes back on. "Did you hear that, Ri-chan's gonna make me an orange cake next time I see her."

"I was right here," Shinohara assured. "now get your shoes on. We've got a lot of paperwork to finish when we get back."

Juuzou's shoulder's sagged, but he did as he was told, slipping his small feet into the red slippers. "Hey, Ri-chan. I guess I'll be seeing you every day now." He grinned when her eyes narrowed. "But that still means the next time I see you in person you'll make me a cake, right?"

"I just said I would, didn't I?"

The boy laughed at her, a sound that rang in her ears and set her teeth on edge, even after he had left and she had returned to doing her math homework.

* * *

It both surprised and amazed Lily when her parents didn't notice the cameras that first morning. Her mother was sitting at the dining room table reading the newspaper to her father, while he cooked breakfast. There was a pot of coffee boiling, and they had opened up the kitchen window to let out some of the smoke from the stove.

Lily covered her mouth as she entered the room, trying to hide a yawn. "Morning."

"Morning, sweetheart." Her mother kissed her forehead as she passed by. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," She hugged her Dad around the waist, her arms not even managing to complete the circle. "I kept dreaming about cats and chocolate."

Her father pat her head with his free hand and flipped a pancake with his other. She was much too tired to scold him over the childish gesture, and decided to just lean all her weight against him instead. "That's an oddly specific dream, did you eat sweets before bed again?"

"I don't think I did…" She let go of her father and sat at the table, taking a glass plate from the stack and setting it in front of her. Her mother leaned over and put some oranges on her plate, as well as a vitamin pill. She popped it into her mouth and chewed, her nose wrinkling thanks to the grape flavor. Once she got it all down she grabbed the milk jug and poured some into her mug. "You fished out all the cherry ones, didn't you?"

Her mother raised her nose in the air and took a sip of her coffee. "I have no idea what you're talking."

"Now don't start you two," Her father set down a plate piled with pancakes. All of them were a crisp golden brown and already drizzled with maple syrup. The sugary smell alone was enough to have Lily's stomach gurgling. "eat your breakfasts so you both can head out. Lily you have school, and Helena you're supposed to help Airi paint her nursery."

"I forgot about that," Lily admitted as she cut up her pancakes."wasn't she having a girl?"

Her mother nodded and began gushing over all of the details. From the color that Airi had picked out, to the stencil designs that would be painted onto the walls, and even the toys that Airi and her husband were slowly buying. To anyone watching, this looked like a normal family scene. It would be hard to believe that her parents not only sympathized with ghouls, but encouraged people to worship them as angels. Her mother was a bubbly airhead who couldn't cook for her life, while her father was a calm man that never allowed his emotions to get in the way of anything. They both cared for her, and treated her like a fairy tale princess. They never went so far as to spoil her, but they had never skimped on anything that would make her happy either. Lily's eyes trailed around the kitchen, trying to catch the camera that Shinohara had hidden somewhere in the small room. She wondered if he saw that they were good-ish people, or if he thought that were monsters, just like the ghouls he hunted.

She knew there was a high possibility that her father had something to do with the murders. After all, if he was in association with ghouls, then he was in part considered a conspirator if he allowed the ghouls to run rampant without telling the CCG. However, she highly doubted that he would lead his group of followers to go murder in the name of ghouls. You had to have a certain type of stomach to commit or even be privy to those types of murders, and he certainly wasn't that type of person. He didn't even like watching horror movies with Lily and her mother due to the carnage that often came with them, there was no way he would watch or lead something so brutal and grisly. However, she wasn't so concerned about her father's obvious innocence right now, she was far more concerned about the cameras situated in the house.

While Juuzou and Shinohara had done a good job hiding them, she didn't know how long that would all last. All it took was for her mother to trip over her heels just once and bump into the bookshelf, for her to realize that they were being spied on. Another thing that she was worried about, and would prove to be a bigger problem, was if Shinohara was translating everything they said. Her family never spoke in Japanese in their own home, not unless company was over, or Lily was about to take an exam. They always spoke in English, and when they did their southern accents became far more prominent. Unless Shinohara was using a fancy program, he would have to bring in a translator, which would mean breaking the promise that he had made to her last night. That would mean someone else would end up seeing her naked, the very thought made her face heat up. She hadn't changed clothes in the bathroom, since that wasn't something that she normally did. Instead she had stood in her room and turned away from the camera while changing in a wild attempt to grab some privacy. She was almost certain she was going to hear Juuzou blab about the huge pinkish birthmark on her back the next time she saw him.

She swallowed the last lump of pancake before getting up from her chair and picking up her plate. "I'm going to head to school. Do you guys need anything from the store?"

"No thanks," He mother said. "I'll pick it up. I know you don't like going out of your way during the winter."

"Or summer." Her father muttered.

Lily rolled her eyes but muttered a thank you, before kissing her parents again, and heading out the door.

* * *

 **Review Responses(kinda)**

 **TheFault-inOurMinds: If you're reading this, then I noticed your review for the old story. I'm glad you liked the old one so much. XD I'm kinda sad they have to start off from square one all over again, but it must be. And no, it's not a sin, I love romance fics with him too. XD**

* * *

 **Translations:**

 **Kanji: A type of Japanese writing. It's similar to Chinese characters, but their pronunciations and what they mean are usually different. When you hear people complain about learning written Japanese, this is usually what they're referring to.**


	4. Breasts

**Title: Children of Flesh and Bone**

 **Summary: Humans either fear what they don't understand, or worship things that they envy. While the majority of Tokyo feared the ghouls, there's a small faction that worships them as 'angels'. Beings meant to save us from ourselves, and bring us a period of peace. Once the CCG catches wind of them, they send Shinohara and Juuzou to infiltrate the church, and bring them down from the inside.**

 **Triggers: Gore, blood, sexual situations, religion(kinda).**

 **Pairings: Suzuya JuuzouxOC**

* * *

 **Warning of the Chapter: Gore. Serious gore.**

* * *

Lily groaned as she stretched her hands over her head, and stretched her legs out from their crossed position up under her desk. It was finally Friday, and as much as she enjoyed Fridays, she felt completely bored. Aside from the biology test, nothing else had gone on all day thanks to the monthly ghoul awareness meeting. In fact, it was so late that the math teacher was allowing them to talk among themselves instead of doing any work. "I should have stayed home." She muttered as she laid her head on her desk.

An orange haired girl in the seat next to her rolled her eyes as she flipped through a teen magazine. "What's the fun in that? You would have missed the riveting discussion on ghouls, and how they're hard to spot and how we're likely to die from them." She fished a lollipop out of her pencil bag and handed it to her. "So chin up."

"You're an inspiration, Mami-chan." Lily took the lollipop and stuck it in her mouth, humming when she recognized the cherry flavor. "But it's starting to snow out, and I've come all the way just to take a biology test I could have made up for on Monday." She shuddered at the mere thought of having to trudge through the snow to get home. She'd end up with wet clothes, and thanks to having to take the train, she'd be pressed against hundreds of other wet bodies. And then there was the cold…

"Lily-chan!" A heavy weight crashed into her back, making Lily bite her tongue and fall out of her self-pity. She should have known the ball of excitement would ditch her own classroom and find her eventually, she just didn't expect her to come so soon. She hissed and poked the skinny body in the ribs. "Ow, okay, I'll get up!" The weight got off of her, and became the image of a short girl with too much hair in her face. "Look at my score!"

Lily recoiled back when a sheet of paper was shoved in her face; a bright red 60% was circled in the corner next to a name spelled Sana in Kanji. "You didn't pass?"

"No, but I'm doing better." Sana sat on top of the desk and crossed her ankles. "Now my Dad won't send me to that boarding school in America. He might even pick one here in Japan instead."

Mami snorted and shook her head. "Maybe a 60 will just throw you to the CCG instead." A light blush covered her plump face. "You'd get to be around all those sexy men…"

"And get eaten by ghouls." Lily added.

The younger girl shook her head vigorously. "The deal was I had to pass this school year if I didn't want to get thrown to the CCG. I've almost have a good grade; I just have to pass every test after this one for the rest of the year. So can I come over and study with you later?"

"Sure, I guess."

"Yay!" Lily yelped as the girl tugged her head to her large chest. "Thanks, Lily-chan. When I become a famous mangaka* I promise to dedicate my first series to you!"

"Thanks."

"Hey, Lily-chan?" Mami held up her own test, a 45% tagged in the corner. "Can I study with you too?"

Lily sighed, but gave her consent anyway. Both Sana and Mami were pretty terrible when it came to tests and academic type things. She was almost sure it was because the two of them were artsy, and that those types of things didn't hold their attention. If they weren't her friends, she probably would have abandoned the two of them a long time ago. "Guys this is a study session, so don't just copy my work."

"I'd never do that." Sana said.

"I can't read your handwriting." Mami added.

"Jerks."

* * *

Juuzou bit into a chocolate bar as he followed behind Shinohara through the narrow streets of the Eleventh Ward. It was crowded since most of the younger people were getting off of school, and there were other people running errands before dinner. He would have just gotten on the sidewalk rails to avoid everyone stepping all over him, but it had just been snowing, and if he fell he was likely to drop his chocolate bar. And even though he could always ask Shinohara to get him another one, they were on their way to the crime scene, and the older man wasn't likely to stop because he asked.

"Where are we going, Shinohara-san?" He swallowed a lump chocolate and nuts. "Are we gonna go kill some ghouls?"

"No, they found another body." He glanced back at the boy with an amused expression. "You weren't paying attention during the briefing, were you?"

"Nope~!" He wasn't even going to bother denying it. Juuzou hated the mission briefings, most of the time it was pure speculation and nagging from his superiors. Why be told what everyone _thought_ was going on, when he could just look at the crime scene and figure it out himself. "But it's part of the church case, right?"

Shinohara didn't say anything as they walked up to a small night club. It was barred off with bright yellow caution tape, which contrasted heavily from the apple red sign anchored to the front of the brick building. There was already a crowd around the place, some people taking pictures, while others were whispering amongst themselves. News reporters had also come onto the scene, and seemed to be testing the police officers as they leaned over the caution tape, microphones pushed into the irritated faces of the tired workers.

Juuzou pushed his way through the crowd as he followed Shinohara to the front, ignoring the complaints and yelps as he jabbed his boney fingers into the bystanders who wouldn't move. When he got up to the front he noticed that the door was open and a detective was retching into a plastic trash can. Saito-san was already there as well; her camera in one hand and the other was rubbing the back of a young blonde who was sobbing into her manicured hands.

She gave the girl another pat on the back before going up to Shinohara and Juuzou. "It's pretty bad, a woman identified as Tachibana Nana was found by one of the strippers when she opened up for the evening. The corpse was roughed up pretty badly, but the damage definitely goes back to the church."

Shinohara pressed a hand over his mouth and nose as he entered the well lit room. Juuzou followed behind him, but didn't bother covering his nose. He wasn't crazy enough to appreciate the smell of a rotting corpse, but he knew that nothing short of a nose clip would keep out the stench. And he was right; there was a metallic tint to the air that was nearly drowned out by a rotting smell. Blood was splashed all over the burgundy walls, the black tiles were littered in glass, and the bar stools were tipped over. In the middle of the room was the corpse, the woman was naked and hanging from the ceiling by an orange extension cord. Her hair was completely shaved off and there were scabs along the pale skin, they looked like giant crabs attached to her head. Where her breasts should have been was clumps of blood and muscle congealed thanks to decomposition. And between her long legs a bloody metal pole was shoved to the hilt inside of her vagina and anus.

"What in the hell?" Shinohara slowly removed his hand away from his face, eyes wide as he stared at the corpse. "Was she found like this?"

Saito nodded. "No one's touched the crime scene since we've found it." She gestured to the room. "I don't think she was even killed here though, all of the symbols are painted in another room. But we haven't seen this type of…brutality with them yet."

Juuzou went up to the woman, and poked her legs, the body swinging and blood splashing down on the floor in congealed clumps. "They used a serrated knife on her."

Saito shrieked and yanked the boy back by his collar. "What are you doing, Suzuya-san? You know better than to touch evidence." She jabbed a finger in the direction of the corpse. "She's evidence, yes she's dead, but still evidence!"

"Please calm down, Saito-san." Shinohara said, and handed Juuzou a pair of plastic gloves. "I'm sure he didn't mean to mess up your evidence."

Juuzou stared at them for a moment before slipping one onto his small hands. He then reached up with the exact opposite hand, much to Saito chagrin, and slipped a finger between the jagged flesh. An indention if his finger could be seen from the outside as he wriggled it around. "The marks on her flesh, they're really jagged, you can't get clean cuts with serrated knives."

Saito yanked his hand back. "So you figured out what type of knife the person used, that doesn't heklp since we don't have any DNA, eyewitnesses, or-

"But we have the name of the victim," Shinohara said, staring down at an ID card that was tucked in a file that Saito had been toting around only moments ago. "if we give it to Lily-chan, she may be able to tell us how Tachibana-san was related to the church."

Juuzou slipped out of Saito's grasp and spun around to look at Shinohara, a wide smile on his face, and blood clinging to his fingers. "That means I get orange cake!"

* * *

Lily yawned and leaned back on her hands as she watched Mami and Sana argue. They were currently in her room 'studying' their Geometry, while eating some cookies that Lily had made. There was only one more left, and the two girl were arguing over who would get to eat it. Lily sat up and grabbed the chocolate chip treat and bit into it, gaining the other two's attention. "Hey!"

Lily swallowed the food in her mouth. "I could just make us more. I think we've got some white chocolate in the cabinet, so I could make a combination platter."

Sana sat up on her knees. "Oh, can I lick the bowl?"

Lily shrugged. "If you come to the kitchen with me." The younger girl cheered as she pulled herself off the floor. Lily stood up as well, her body popping in all types of places thanks to sitting in the same place for so long. "Do you want to come, Mami-chan?"

The orange haired girl sighed and pulled herself off the floor. "Fine, but I want to lick the spoon."

The girls went down the hall and into the kitchen. Her mother was sitting at the table doing a crossword puzzle, while a kettle of tea was on the stove. The woman looked up from it as they entered the kitchen, a smile gracing her plump lips. "Hello girls, come back for another snack?"

Sana nodded, practically skipping to the round table. "Lily-chan is making us some more cookies since we've been studying so hard."

" _We've_ been studying hard," Mami gestured between herself and Lily. " _you've_ been staring at those magazines. If anything, you shouldn't get any cookies until you actually finish a few equations."

Lily ignored them as she gathered up the food stuff and began blending it in a large metal bowl. Once the batter was made, she got the other two to make up the balls and set them on the pan as she sat at the table with her mother. She felt tired, as if all the energy had been sucked out of her body. It was for that reason that she didn't usually entertain at her house, especially on days after school or church. Lily was quite the introvert, and socializing felt like a chore a good chunk of the time. But she did care about her friends, to a certain degree, and helping them study at least amused her even if it didn't reap results.

She yawned and leaned backwards, trying to pop her back, when she heard a heavy metal song ring from her phone. She dug a hand into her skirt pocket and pulled out the small pink device, only to become stiff when she saw the name on the illuminated screen. She clicked the ignore button and shoved her phone back into her pocket. "Oh, who was that?" Lily looked up at her mother, the woman had a red mug to her lips and an eyebrow raised. "Was it your Father?"

"Uh, no." She raced to find someone that would make sense for her to have on her phone. The only people she usually spoke to was her family, Sana, and Mami. She didn't have any other friends, and her mother was aware of this. "I-it was-It was, Juuzou-kun*!"

"Juuzou?"

Lily nodded. "Yeah, the boy from church-"

"You're into boys?" Mami asked, her blue eyes were wide and she had stopped rolling the cookie dough into a ball. "I thought you were asexual!

"She's had a boyfriend before." Sana muttered.

Lily's face heated up and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from glaring. "I do like boys, I just haven't had a boyfriend since Yukimura died."

Mami's face heated up and she lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry, Lily-chan, I didn't know-"

"It's fine," She stood up from the table and put the now full pan into the oven. "Let's just get these cooked so we can finish studying. We still have six more pages of work to go over."

* * *

 **Japanese Translations:**

 **Mangaka: Someone who draws/writes manga.**

 **Kun: An honorific used when you're familiar with a male, or used with a young boy. Lily is using kun at the end of Juuzou name, to show that she considers him a friend. This is more for Mami and Sana's benefit than her mother's.**


	5. Vagina

Lily was almost jumping for joy when her friends finally went home that evening in a flutter of hugs and geometry papers, and since it was a Friday evening, she wouldn't have to worry about them until Monday. She yawned as she went back to her room after walking them to the door, she was gonna go to her room and sleep. Nothing beyond the world exploding or the release of _Darkness Rising 3_ would wake her up before morning. She flopped onto her bed, causing one of her teddy bears to fall onto the floor. She reached out for another one, her fingers crawling over the yellow duvet like a spider, until her fingers curled over the cold metal and plastic of her phone. She dragged it closer to her, before raising it above her face and clicking it on. She had three missed calls and two missed texts. Her eyebrows furrowed when she saw that all but one came from Shinohara. The lone text came from an unknown number that she didn't recognize. All of the messages basically had the same spiel about how he needed to contact her as soon as possible.

She clicked the Call button and brought the phone to her ear, silently praying that he wouldn't answer. However her luck ran out as he answered with a tired hello. "Um, good evening Shinohara-san, it's Lily. I missed your calls earlier, and was just calling back, your messages said it was important."

"Ah, Lily-chan. Thanks for calling back, I'm sure you were busy." In the background she could hear people talking, and the sound of cars hurrying on the slush filled roads. "Do you think you could meet Juuzou and me tonight?"

Lily bit her cheek. Even though no one could see her facial expressions at the moment, it had become a habit to keep her face blank when talking to anyone. That included people on the phone. "I can't. It's late and my Mom would never let me out of the house this late without a good reason."

The man let out a sigh. "Could you meet us tomorrow then? There's a cafe in the Eleventh Ward called _The Bird House_. I have information that I need to show you, and sending it over the phone could compromise the mission."

Lily bit harder on her cheek, she could practically taste blood now. "I guess..."

"Thanks, Lily-chan, your help will get this mission done before you know it."

The two exchanged a quick goodbye before hanging let her phone fall onto her stomach, eyes narrowing as she stared at her plain ceiling. After today's events all she wanted to do was have a relaxing weekend, but it looked like that wasn't in the cards. She pressed a hand against her eyes and took a steady breath, already trying to force herself to go to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Lily was a twitching mess as her mother played with her hair and adjusted her long skirt. "Awe, I can't believe you're going on a date!"

"It's not a date." She shut her left eye as her mother wiped away some of her smudged makeup. "It's just a tutoring session." It was a lie that Lily had been practicing since she woke up that morning. Since it was a practiced lie her voice didn't stutter and waver, it almost sounded authentic, and probably would Ltd would have sounded more so if her mother didn't play with her body like a dress up doll. She swiped at her mother's hands when they tried to make another pass at her long braid. "Mom, I've gotta go."

Her father set a plate of eggs and bacon on the table, immediately gaining Lily's attention. "Leave her alone Helena, this isn't the first boy she's tried to date."

The girl's face heated up and she jerked herself backwards, almost tripping over her boots. "Can I please go now?"

Helena gave her blessing with a kiss to her forehead. Lily then hurried out the door, her hands entrenched in her coat pockets. It was cold out, but all the snow had melted, leaving black slush all over the ground. She shuddered as a cold breeze blew over the area, a groan escaping her lips. She really didn't want to come out, but she didn't have much of a choice. She had promised to help Shinohara in this case, and she didn't go back on a promise, especially if she got something out of it. It was probably one of the few things that her crazy parents taught her that was any good on the moral front.

After turning down the street she managed to find _The Bird house_. It was a small building wedged between an oragami shop and a sushi bar. There were a few tables outside it, but the chairs were stacked on top of the tables. A clear sign that no one was allowed to eat outside on such a nasty day. Lily took a deep breath before pushing on the door, the cold making a shudder crawl down her back, while her belly grumbled. The spicy scent of pumpkin and brown sugar blasted her right in the face, instantly brightening her mood somewhat. Her eyes scanned the candy colored room until she caught sight of the investigators. They were sitting on the far side of the room, tucked in a booth close to the kitchen.

She hurried over to them, sliding into the seat next to Juuzou and across from Shinohara. "Hey, sorry for being late, my Mom held me up." She ignored Juuzou's intense stare. "So what did you want to show me?"

Shinohara opened his mouth, but was cut off as Juuzou slammed a hand to the table and leaned forward, his eyes narrowed. "Where's my orange cake, Ri-chan?"

The girl's eyebrows furrowed. "Huh?"

"Orange Cake." He said it slowly, as if Lily was a child who needed someone to explain a complicated theorem to her. "You said you'd make me an orange cake next time you saw me!"

She honestly didn't remember anything, probably because it was only once. However, if he said bake, then that created a nice little loop hole. "Sorry Juuzou, I forgot." She raised a hand when he opened his mouth. "But I'll bake you one next time you come to my house."

His glare stayed in place, but he backed away from her, getting back in his seat. Shinohara set a file on the table. "May I continue?" When Juuzou nodded, the man opened the file. "This is what we found at a club in the Eleventh Ward."

Lily's eyes widened as she stared at the photo, no amount of cheek chewing would keep the shocked expression off her face. The woman was covered in scabs from head to toe. Her hair was shaven right off, and where her chest should have been was nothing but muscle and clumps of blood. But the thing that utterly disgusted her was the metal poles shoved deep inside her vagina and anus. They were covered in blood, and you could see a small intention of them under her pale skin.

Lily was used to gore. She saw it all the time with her horror movies, and read about horrifying descriptions in her books and magazines. Yet this image here wasn't an elaborate setup meant to entertain. It was the effect of someone with a filthy mind that wanted to inflict as much pain as possible on this poor woman. She traced the edges of the photo with a finger, almost afraid to touch the actual image.

"This." She swallowed heavily before starting again. "This is for the church investigation?"

Shinohara nodded. "That woman was Tachibana Nana. She was a nurse and married with children. We found her body yesterday evening at a club, she was found the way she's posed in the photo." He gently laid a large hand over the photo, causing Lily to look up at him. "Lily, do you know who she was?"

The girl nodded, it was a jerkymovement that almost went unnoticed. "She was the wife of Tachibana Kaito. He plays the drums in our church's band on Sundays."

"Is eating fellow church members cannibalism?" Juuzou wondered aloud, earning a bewildered look from a waitress passing by.

"But I don't get it." Lily said. "Kaito and Nana are pretty active in the church, why would they..." She removed Shinohara's hand, her eyes narrowed as she stared at the image. "You said you found her in a club? What type of club was it?"

"A strip club." Shinohara said. "Why does it matter?"

"Have you questioned any of the strippers?"

Shinohara stared at the photo, his own eyes widening. "You think she was working here?"

"And her husband found out." Her voice was quiet. "If she was working as a stripper, then she was committing adultery. In the Old Testament women and men were killed if they had sex outside marriage."

"Stripping isn't sex," Juuzou pointed out.

"No, but sins start in the mind. Plus, some women give an 'extra' show for a price." She tapped the poles in the photo. "That's why those were shoved up there, to be a kind of punishment for her sexual deviance."

Shinohara pulled out his phone. "I'll call Saito-san and have her send me the forensic results, if she had sex with anyone recently, it should show up." He gestured to the photo. "When I'm done we'll go to the club and question the owner."

* * *

 _The Palace_ was already cleaned up. The body was removed, New stools were set up around the long bar, and there were even a few customers being entertained by women in fancy lingerie even though it was only early afternoon. Lily's face was utterly warm, she was sure that you could roast a marshmallow over it. She'd never been so grateful for having such dark skin as she was right then. Lily didn't have a problem with nakedness, it was a natural thing that happened every time you changed clothes or took a bath. It was the sexual nature of a strip joint that really rattled her, Lily was no virgin, but sex was never flaunted so blatantly in the open in her household.

She glanced over to Juuzou, half expecting to see the boy blatantly staring at the girls. However, he didn't seem interested in them as they moved through the club. She opened her mouth to comment, but a strangled hiss escaped when she felt something warm grab her butt. She whirled around, but found herself face to face with retreating stripper and a tall man hanging onto her.

"Hurry up before we leave you, Ri-chan." Lily hurried to catch up with the two, and huddled close to Juuzou. She could feel him stiffen under her touch, but was almost relieved when he didn't say anything.

When they got to the bar a short woman with cherry red hair and white lingerie was pouring up a drink. When she noticed them, a smile curled onto her glossy lips, and she batted her eyes. "Hello, can I get you a drink?" She leaned over the counter, flashing a generous amount of cleavage. "Or can I get you something better?"

Lily was almost impressed as Shinohara spoke to her, his eyes fixed on the woman's face. "I was hoping to speak to the owner, or anyone who hires the strippers."

The woman pouted and set down her bottle of whiskey. "You're looking for Tsuki-chan, she's in the back, but she doesn't do shows." Shinohara slipped a wallet out of his pocket and flashed his badge. The woman's eyes widened and she nodded. "Of course there's always exceptions."

She hurried through a door behind the bar, and returned moments later with a white haired woman who had forgone her top. Her nose was wrinkled and her violet eyes were narrowed as she walked up to the bar. "What do you want? There's no ghouls in my mother's establishment, and no under age girls either."

Shinohara took out his phone and presented a picture of Tachibana Nana. She was a smiling woman with long black hair, large eyes that had bangs getting in the way, and pale skin that was unscathed. "Have you had this woman work as a stripper?"

The woman leaned forward, lips pursed as she stared at the phone. "That's Aki, she's a big seller here." She looked up from the photo, eyebrows furrowed. "But she was found dead. What could you possibly need from me?"

"That was it. Come you two," He gently swat the bartender's hands away when she tried to touch a glaring Juuzou. "we need to send up a new report to the Chief." He gave Tsuki a nod. "Thank you."

"Any time," She tilted her head towards Lily. "if the gaijin* ever needs work, send her my way. Pretty thing like her would make all types of money."

Lily bit down on her cheek, fighting the urge to rollover eyes. Shinohara bid the woman a final goodbye before ushering the two of them out of the club. Once they were out in the cold air, Lily allowed a shudder go down her spine, causing her body to violently convulse. Juuzou immediately took a step back from her. "She really was a stripper, now what?"

Shinohara pocketed his phone. "Now, we go question Kaito-san."

* * *

 **Japanese Translations:**

 **Gaijin: A rude way to say foreigner. We really don't have a word for that type of thing in American English. When we wanna be a rude to foreigners, we use a derogatory term towards their country. German would be Kraut, Japanese would be Jap, and so on and so forth. Yeah, it's complicated and rude. Really, don't use these terms, it's incredibly rude.**

* * *

 **Review Response:**

 **Lady Anachay: Awe, I'm so glad you're coming out of the shadows! Though, I'm sorry you had to read through the now pointless story. Don't worry, she explains why she wants to sell out her family later on. But yeah, I'm glad she seems a bit mysterious and cold, hopefully she stays consistent through out the story.**

 **Drake: Thanks! The concept came to me when I saw Tsukiyama in the church.**

 **Guest: Thanks, and here it is!**


	6. Cheek(Internal)

As it turned out, questioning Kaito would take a much more complicated route than Lily had previously realized. First and foremost, Shinohara and Juuzou would be unable to actually do it face to face. They both attended the church with a cover as an uncle and nephew duo who were curious about Christianity, but weren't bought on the whole idea quite yet. Then there was the issue that Kaito's case wasn't even picked up by the police. It was officially stated that ghouls had killed Tachibana Nana, though more extreme news sources claimed it was humans. No matter which way they went about it, their case was entirely boxed in with no obvious cracks.

Lily took a sip of her grape soda, watching Shinohara pour over the files on the table. They were currently in a small fast food joint in a shadowy corner of the 11th Ward, it was the type you expected to see in splatter films. Shinohara had taken them there after dropping off something at the CCG, and getting some more files. Juuzou sat next to Lily, eating greasy fries and draining an orange soda. She wondered how he could eat that filth, especially since he was eating nearly four hours ago. This loose train of thought was derailed as Shinohara gave a sigh, picked up his coffee mug, and took a sip. When he swallowed he gestured to the papers. "So I believe I may have found a way to question Tachibana-san."

Juuzou perked up at this and leaned forward. "Are we gonna sneak into the house and attack him in his sleep?"

Lily sucked on the straw a little harder to keep from showing her confusion, while Shinohara merely shook his head, clearly used to these sort of outbursts. "No, we're going to have Lily-chan question him after church."

A sound mixed between a cough and a car desperately trying to start erupted out of Lily. She rubbed her neck, a noticeable glare set on her face. "Excuse me?"

"It's just a few questions."Shinohara said, he had both hands up as if trying to get her to consider not attacking him. "Your parents are likely to have heard about the murder by now, and now Kaito will have to play the role of mourning husband and father. If you fish around I'm sure you'll get more answers than we ever could because no one would suspect you of it." He lowered his hands as the perky waitress went over and refilled his coffee, before going back to flirt with a brunette woman in the corner booth on the far side the shop. "It's probably the only way to get this done without our covers getting blown and this entire case falling apart."

The girl sighed and leaned back in her metal chair. Shinohara made a very good point, actually. She would be able to get away with questions like 'How did she die?' and 'Do you miss her?'. Even though she probably only spoke to Kaito a grand total of twice this year alone, when she was younger she used to be around him and his wife a lot. Lily was even the baby sitter for their eldest son when she was in middle school. But there was still the, almost certain, chance that she'd be found out by the entire church. That would mean dealing with ghouls, and likely becoming someone's meal. She bit her inner cheek and had to speak around the mound of flesh, making her voice sound like a muffled child's. "I can't."

"Why not?"

She could feel her face begin to burn now. "I suck at lying. I-I never really had to do it..."

She flinched when Juuzou began poking the cheek. The appendage was greasy, his nails were chipped and dug into her skin, all round making her skin crawl. The boy ignored her though as he pried her mouth open. "You're being a baby, Ri-chan. You're not lying to anyone, you're asking questions normal people ask after someone dies. Not asking 'How did those poles fit up her pussy and ass?'."

Lily's eyes widened, but there was a mangled gasp close by. Upon turning all three customers turned to stare at the poor waitress, her eyes wide and a covering her mouth. Shinohara took out his worn black wallet without a word, and retrieved a handful of Yen* notes. He then stood up and placed them in the traumatised girl's free hand, before gathering up all of the papers and leaving the establishment with the two teens in tow.

* * *

Lily eventually made it home, just to find what Shinohara had said would be waiting for her. Her father was speaking on the phone, struggling to put on his tie, while her mother was putting some plastic bentos* full of food into a cardboard box. She silently took off her shoes and then picked them up with one hand, just standing there watching her parents. She was painfully aware that Shinohara had his cameras set up, one of the few things she didn't passively forget, but she would have thought her parents would be at the Tachibana household already.

Her mother gave a brisk sigh before straightening up, her eyebrows furrowed and plump lips screwed in a frown. She shook her head and turned around before gasping, her brown eyes wide as Helena caught sight of her daughter. "Lily! Goodness grief, I thought you were still out."

"I just got back." She tiptoed into the apartment, careful not to bump her struggling father. "So uh, what's going on?" She gave a shaky smile. "Someone die?"

Her mother went over to her, encircling her thin arms around Lily like a protective barrier, and nuzzling her large nose into her shoulder. "Oh Lily, that joke came true." Her grip tightened somewhat. "Nana Tachibana* died."

Lily placed a hand on her mother's back, gently rubbing circles into the wool sweater. "That...That was a terrible joke then, huh?" She looked up when she felt a heavy hand on her head. Her father stared down at her, an unreadable expression on his sharp features. "Do you need me? I could, you know, babysit?"

"No." He removed his hand and pocketed his phone. "You'll stay here." Lily opened her mouth to protest, but he merely shook his head. "No, I'm serious Lily. You'll stay here, you've never dealt with death and I want to keep that status as long as possible."

He gently pried her mother off her, and then picked up the box. Lily watched as they shuffled to the door, quiet sniffles coming from her mother. "Dad-"

"If it's any incentive, you don't have to go to church tomorrow." Her ears perked up at that, but she bit her inner cheek hard, trying to fight her major weakness. "Just stay home, please."Before she even knew what she was saying, a yes slipped through her lips. Her father let go of her mother for a moment and kissed her forehead. "Be a good girl."

Lily stared at the door for a long moment before going back to her room, feeling a mixture of triumph and guilt.

And it made her sick.

* * *

She started screaming before her eyes even opened. Just the feeling of cold washing over her and extra weight on top of her body were powerful enough alarms to wake her up.A cold and callused hand slammed over her mouth, making her teeth dig into her lips. Lily opened both her eyes, and they widened when she caught sight of Juuzou. He was straddling her body, a faint pink in his cheeks and his breathing heavy.

"Your parents are gone."Her eyebrows furrowed as she stared at him, now aware that his face was coming closer to her's. Her hips began to squirm and she kicked her feet, the duvet falling to the floor in a jumbled heap. He squeezed his legs, causing a sharp pain to shoot through her body. "If you're a good girl, I'll remove my hand. All you've gotta do is answer one~ question for me." His forehead rested on her's, she could smell something spicy with a sweet undertone on his breath. "Will you make me an orange cake?"

Her squirming abruptly stopped as confusion set in. All of this for a cake? Didn't he have some earlier, and more importantly she was now sure that she was constantly watched. Her parents had left only an hour ago, that was near perfect timing. Another squeeze and she brought her mental attention back to the boy on top of her. She jerked her head the best she could and just like magic, he jumped off of her, a large smile on his face. She slowly sat up, rubbing her lips as gently as she could. "Are you always going to pop up at my house whenever you please?"

The boy shrugged. "I was just thinking about what I was gonna eat, but there was slim pickings today. So I thought I'd take you up on your offer and climbed through your window, you left it open."

Lily made a mental note to be sure to lock the window and not just close it when she was home alone. She pushed herself off her bed and went to the flicked the light on, and went over to the counter, sitting on top of it cross legged. The girl shook her head and reached up to get a blue recipe book out of a cabinet filled with metal pans and bowls. It was considered her cabinet, and was filled with her few baking utensils and the like. She flipped it open and scanned its table of contents for a moment, before shaking her head and wandering back to her room. Juuzou groaned and jumped off the counter and followed behind her like a prison guard.

"I'm going to make the cake." She said, kneeling in front of her bedside shelf. "I just have to remember which recipe book the orange cake is in."

"You don't cook it all the time?"

"No." She stood up and let out a puff of breath. "I've got thirty of these things, maybe Mom was right and I should get ride of a few books..."

"Ri-chan, why can't you lie?" Lily stopped what she was doing and glanced back at the boy. He was staring at a picture of her, Sana, and a tall purple haired boy who had his arms wrapped around Lily. "You said you don't need to, but you do it all the time?"

"What do you mean?"

Juuzou went over to her, and jabbed a finger into her cheek. Lily hissed and recoiled back, but he grabbed her wrist, forcing her to stop as he squeezed on the fragile bone. "Your left cheek sucks in a little whenever you say something you don't want to. Doesn't that mean you're lying?"

"No-"

He pressed a little harder. "On Sunday you're gonna to have to question Tachibana-san."

So he knew that she was supposed to get this Sunday off. Which meant that they knew she technically betrayed them. That guilt cocktail came back, this time with a heavy dose of irritation added in. "When I entered this agreement I got you guys information. That's it. I didn't question people, make cakes, or any other crap you may want me to do." She pushed her body weight against him to no affect. "I'm not CCG!"

"But you're my underling~." He said it easily, even while Lily began to dig her nails into his skin. "You made a deal with Shinohara-san, so now you take orders from me. And my first official order is..." He let her go and picked up a red recipe book off the floor. "I want my orange cake." He shoved the book into her hands. "So find it."

She stared at the red cover, eyes narrowed and making her own mouth bleed as she furiously chewed on her own cheek. "I really think there's something wrong with you." She dropped the book, as if disgusted that she was touching it at all. "You tell Shinohara I'll help him tomorrow, but I get something in return. Wait," She grabbed her phone off the bed, almost amazed Juuzou didn't crush it. "I'll just text him so I'll remember. Now go away."

"My cake!"

"I don't have all the ingredients," She began tapping at her phone. "besides I always keep a promise. Even to insane morons who think it's fine to climb in through windows." There was a light shunking sound, and Lily looked up from her phone, only to find Juuzou gone. "Good riddance."

* * *

 **Japanese Translations:**

 **Yen: Japanese currency.**

 **Yen notes: Japanese paper currency.**

 **Bento: A single portion of a part of a meal put inside a bento container. In anime, you're likely to see some girl squeal about making a bento for a guy, or the guy wanting to eat a bento the squealing girl made.**

 **Bento container: Basically a container used to store food prepared for a meal. Everything is separated thanks to the slots in the they can be made from cardboard all the way up to lacquer.**

 **Nana Tachibana: For some readers, it may seem like I miss types this. I did not. Remember, in the Mc'Knight family they speak English amongst themselves. And in English, here in the USA, we go First name then Last name. While in Japanese you go Last name then First name.**

* * *

 **Fey Croix: Thanks! ^_^**

 **drake: I actually have a scenario similar to that in my head! Um, you don't know where I left the TV remote, do you? Anyway, I do want Lily to learn to learn to fight, but Juuzou wouldn't make her a weapon. If he could do that, then he'd have made a quinque the moment he was allowed out in the field. Ah, you're not a servant, so rise pawn!. ;p Seriously though, it's never to early to give ideas. That goes to everyone, if you want to see a scenario just type in your idea. Unlike drake I can't read minds, I just raise the dead.**

 **Lady Anachay: Something like that happened in my town to a high school girl, that's where I got the inspiration from. And yes, it really was terrible, but if you guys are shuddering then I did my job well. I actually got the impression that Big Madame wanted to retain some of Juuzou's innocence, because it's cute and girly. Virginal girls are historically considered very lovely, and Juuzou was kinda being trained to be a girl via cross dressing. In one part of the manga Big Madame explained animals while brushing his hair, not killing techniques. And in Re when Juuzou has to be a girl for undercover work EVERYONE believes it. I'm ranting now...Anyway, the owner was more concerned about her being gaijin, they're rare and ones that strip are probably ultra rare. Having a real life western girl stripping would bring in quite a crowd. In my head Lily is actually in her gawky teen stage, so she's more cute than hot or sexy.**


	7. Lips

Lily ended up going to church the next morning. Both of her parents were surprised, but after some garbled excuse that her coffee deprived brain barely spat out, they seemed to accept it. Lily held her bible to her chest as she walked into the church. Kurokawa was already there with two otherghouls. Kurokawa and a slim female ghoul were crowded around a tall man who was speaking in hushed whispers, that stopped as soon as the woman took notice of flinched as her father put a heavy hand on her shoulder and pushed her back. "Lily, stay outside for a moment."

With that the door was slammed shut in her face. Lily stared at the door for all of a moment before a growl rumbled in her chest. It was freezing cold, there was already traffic zipping past the roads, and she could hear excited girls chatting to each other as they got last minute Valentine's chocolates. All together it created a very uncomfortable atmosphere for Lily, and she was really beginning to regret her decision to leave her room that morning. She crossed her arms over her chest, and pressed her nose into the collar of her coat. For ten minutes there was no sound from the church, and Lily was beginning to loose her patience. As she was about to knock on the door, it opened instead, and a middle aged ghoul nearly bumped into her. He grabbed her shoulders too keep her from falling. "Are you alright, Lily-chan?"

The girl nodded. "Thank you, Tanaka-sama."The man let her go, and Lily pulled herself into a bow. "Will you join us for the sermon?"

"I'm afraid not." His voice was in a dull monotone, though his green eyes shone with something Lily couldn't identify. "There's something important I must attend to, however," He fished a hand in his coat pocket, took out a bright colored pocky box, and handed it to her. "I got this for you. I'm sorry you have to be out here for so long. I know how much you hate the cold."

"It's fine, really." She ripped open the box as the man walked to his motorcycle, and stuck a stick of strawberry coated cookie into her mouth. Tanaka was a ghoul that rarely came around, usually Kurokawa and Maeda worked the sermons, and Tanaka came only once a month. Whatever was going on with the Tachibana family must have dragged him out from wherever he came from. She watched him gun out of the parking lot, just for another car to swerve in right after him. Out of the car stumbled a six year old and a pair of four year old twins, behind all three was the ragged Kaito Tachibana. He and his children wore all black, and there was a solemn air to them, as if they were going to the funeral at that moment.

It was officially game time, she either did as Shinohara asked or didn't bother at all. If she did this one thing she could get something out of it, maybe some money, or just a new novel. Like Juuzou said, it was just asking normal questions, nothing too out of the ordinary. She took a sharp breath and walked up to the family, her face set in its usual blank stare. "I heard about Nana-san."

Kaito stopped in his tracks, his eyes wide as if he had just woken up. "Lily-chan, I'm sorry I didn't see you there." He tapped his daughter's shoulder. "Take the twins inside while I talk to Lily-chan."

The girl nodded and she led the twins into the church. The girl gave a Lily a glance, her dark eyes were puffy and had bags under them. The girl had been crying, and if she didn't know better, her siblings didn't know what happened to their mother. That sickening twist of guilt stabbed her stomach again, a sour taste flooding her mouth. She averted her eyes, but didn't look at Kaito either as the door shut behind her with a heavy thunk.

"Aiko understands that her mother won't come back," He said, his voice hoarse. "but the twins don't understand that yet. They think Nana is with their grandmother, who is also dead..." He shook his head. "Needless to say, I would like it if you didn't mention Nana anymore."

"Of course." Lily bit her inner cheek and spared a glance at Kaito's face. Like his daughter there were deep bags under his eyes, but other than that there was no real signs of grief. "You don't blame the ghouls, do you?"

"Of course not." The words were said so quickly that she was convinced Kaito didn't even think it over. "It was meant to happen, and that's all there is to it. Would it have been better for Nana to be spared?" He shrugged. "I'm not an angel, I don't make these decisions." A car sped into the parking lot, and an old couple stepped out. Kaito pat her head, and Lily had to bite her cheek to keep from complaining. "I'll see you inside, Lily-chan."

The girl stepped aside, allowing the man to enter the building. Inside she could hear the children laughing, and her mother playing a nursery rhyme on the keyboard. In any other circumstance this would seem like a cheerful pre-Valentine's day, but right then it was doing nothing but convey a false sense of normalcy. One that not only felt ill-gotten, but was slowly beginning to feel like a noose, and her own father may be the executioner.

* * *

"And that's what he said."

Lily, Juuzou, and Shinohara were sitting in a sushi bar. The investigators hadn't been at church that morning, and as soon as it had let out, she was whisked away to this small restaurant. Like most of the places Shinohara had taken her, it was small and didn't have too much of a crowd. Lily was beginning to think that it was because of Juuzou's strange behavior, not in fear that their top secret information was going to get compromised.

Shinohara set his tea cup down. "That doesn't sound like someone who just lost their wife. Not a sane person anyway..."

Lily just shrugged as she picked led at her sashimi. "He found out his wife was a prostitute, I don't think most people would even respect the other person after that."

"Hey now," Lily looked up from her food. "marriage is a little more complicated than that. It's a commitment, but one that can be worked out no matter what happens."

That sounded like something out of those love guru books Mami was always reading. All that was missing was something about the soul, and pure love. "So what do we do now?"

"We know that the church is doing the murders, and that their own members aren't exempted.l He said. "Now we need to gather actual evidence against them, that way we can catch the ghouls and humans in the act. If we manage to do that the entire case will be solved without things going south."

A loud sigh erupted out of Juuzou, and Lily was almost reminded that he was there. The boy had been strangely quiet today. "I hate this part, it takes so~ long to find anything!"

Lily bit her cheek at his words. She thought that they were almost done with the case thanks to her help, how much evidence could they possibly need? She'd heard stories of CCG investigators killing people who just smelled bloody, and turned out to be humans. No evidence was gathered, or investigations made. Granted, cutting corners was by no means a good thin either. But she was willing to bet her GPA that Kaito was the one who killed Nana, or was at least part of her murder. No normal person would look so apathetic towards the death of their wife, not unless there was something else going on.

"Shinohara-san, could we go back to that club?" She ignored his surprised look. "The owner, said that Nana-san worked there, but maybe they could confirm that Kaito had come at all?"

"We already asked that," Juuzou said. " and no one recognized him."

But Kaito had to have found out about his wife's secret somehow. If she were a stripper, she knew she'd never tell anyone, that would be a secret that went straight to the grave. Their church didn't have confession either, you were just expected to tell God those types of things. The only loophole she could think of was if she brought the clients home for 'extra work', or she had left a hotel receipt lying around.

She set down her chopsticks, the line of thought was beginning to remind her of those pictures. "Then let's question her regulars. Maybe she did extra work that didn't go o guesswork record. If she did, then maybe that's how Kaito-san found out?"

Shinohara was quiet for a moment, and Lily thought he was going to reject her idea. However the man gave a nod. "That's actually a good idea. Since the club is closed, Juuzou and I will take a shot at it tomorrow. It's best if you're not there, Lily-chan, that type of environment isn't good for a girl your age."

"Alright then." Lily stood up from the table, her purse under her arm. "I'm going to go home then, I'm sure my parents are worried." A cold hand yanked her back down, eliciting a yelp from the girl. "Juuzou-!"

"We're gonna make a cake today, Ri-chan." His voice was as pleasant as ever. If no one could see his fingers digging into her arm, then they'd think the two were just having a pleasant conversation. "No more excuses."

* * *

Shinohara had dropped the two off at a grocery store before going to his own home. This set Lily on edge as she followed behind the white haired investigator. She'd only been alone with Juuzou for brief moments, and it had always ended in disaster. She could barely imagine having to spend a good two hours with him, extra if you counted shopping and travel time. Lily fiddled on her phone as she searched for an orange cake recipe online. "So um, where should we cook this?"

The boy glanced back at her as they entered the store. "My house is closer, plus I wouldn't have to share the extra slices~."

The girl's eyebrows furrowed. "That's not true, if I cooked the cake, then I can have some too." She clicked on a recipe that looked virtually inexpensive. "Alright, let's just get this over with. We should get the milk first, it should be in the back of the store."

The next half hour was a very enlightening experience for Lily. She'd always seen Juuzou as strange, but it was the first time she really saw him interact with Shinohara watching over him. Something about him was more calculated and unhinged, a combination that made her skin crawl. She wasn't even sure what gave this new attitude away, he seemed to be acting the same as ever. Uncaring and utterly remorseless. When he caught Lily staring his grin stretched across his lips, making Lily look back down at her phone. "Was there something you needed, Ri-chan?"

"Uh, no." She grabbed a bag of sugar off the shelf and put it into the buggy. Juuzou was pushing it, he'd insisted on it for some reason. Lily had let him, of course, since she didn't have the emotional capacity to argue at the moment. "That should be everything, let me just double check the list, then you can pay."

Lily nodded to herself then directed Juuzou towards the register. As they went she noticed that every so often Juuzou would bump into someone. The victim would give the boy a dirty look, but wouldn't call him out on it. She chalked it up to Juuzou being contrary as usual, or simply impatient. According to him, he'd waited almost two weeks for this cake, and had even started dreaming about it. While Lily wasn't quite sure if it had been two weeks or not, she was almost sure that Juuzou didn't dream about that cake. She liked to think that his dreams were very off the wall, almost something out of a snuff film. If he even slept at all, the bags under his eyes were a blatant hint that he didn't sleep enough.

Lily ended up loading all of the groceries into the conveyer belt herself. It wasn't a difficult task though, so she didn't care too much. Once the bags were filled, the total appeared on the small screen in bright green numbers. Lily gently tapped Juuzou, who was busy messing with something in his hands "Time to pay."

He yanked out a fistful of Yen, and waved it at the cashier. "Here you go~." The woman took it with a dismayed look that Juuzou seemed to ignore. "Don't worry though, if it doesn't I've got plenty more where that came from."

After a good five minutes this woman managed to count out the cash and the two managed to leave the store. Lily hugged the flour to her chest as she followed Juuzou to his house. They were cutting through alleys and going down places that most sane people wouldn't dare track through, even on a Sunny afternoon. Eventually they made it to one of the many cookie cutter apartments buildings that were scattered around the was made of a dingy concrete and had different colored doors for each floor level. It reminded Lily of a cheap motel, not an apartment.

The two trekked up the stairs to the second floor, and to the third door, a faded three was painted against the dark green door. The investigator stared down at the things in his hand for a moment, before glancing back at the door. Lily opened her mouth, but promptly shut it to bite her cheek when the boy kicked it open with a birds in the alley below cawed and flew away, while a muffled yell could be heard in the room next door.

"Welcome to my home, Ri-chan."

* * *

Juuzou's home was small, barely enough room for one person. There was a living room, kitchen, bathroom, and what she assumed was a bedroom behind a closed door. The house itself was rather bare with almost no furniture, no paint on the walls, or any real home accents. There was merely a low table with a soda can and some red thread scattered across the stained surface. Juuzou slipped out of his slippers and went to the the small kitchen, setting down the food on the tile counter "Don't forget to take off your shoes."

Lily slipped out of her winter boots, careful to balance the groceries as she did. "I'm not that forgetful."

She went to the kitchen and smooshed her things as close as she could on the counter, half afraid something of importance would fall off and splatter on the linoleum floor. "Okay, I'm gonna need a big bowl to mix things in and a spoon."

Juuzou did as he was asked without complaint or comment. Eventually things were added to the bowl, and the batter began to form. Juuzou sat next to her on the stove, clearly unbothered by the heat coming from the preheating oven. His legs swung back and forth as he watched her with interest. Every so often she would glance back to him, just to find him staring at her. She was used to staring, being a gaijin meant that you got stared at all the time, and Sana often stared when she was in one of her moods, but this was different. She felt like she was being judged or appraised with every action she made. Half of her wanted to know what he wanted, but the other half was now curious about him as well.

Juuzou always acted strange, like a fish that was taught to breathe normal air and to walk on land. Normal social ques either went over his head, or he would ignore them altogether. He seemed like a messy and eclectic person, but his home didn't reflect that. If anything it was clean and well organized, everything was quick to be found and within reach of his short height. She blinked when she felt something cold splash on her face, she stopped stirring and turned to Juuzou to ask for a towel, but no words left her mouth when he leaned over and swiped the batter off her face. She could barely hide her disgust as he plopped it in his mouth, sucking his digit with wet sloppy sounds.

"What?"

"Just hand me the pan."

The boy did as she asked, a smile spreading across his face as he watched her pour the batter into the bowl. It became a full on grin when she finished, and he promptly snatched the bowl away from her. His finger skimmed along the lip of the bowl, orange gunk clinging to his finger, before it disappeared into his open mouth.

Lily shook her head in mild amusement. "All you've gotta do now is wait an hour, and the cake will be ready." She shuffled over to the door, and slipped her shoes on. "Now that you've got your cake, you'll leave me alone, right?"

Juuzou looked up from his bowl, a smirk shining through all the batter smeared on his face."Why would I do that? You're my underling after all~."

* * *

 **Review Response:**

 **drake: The ghouls will make an appearance eventually, just short cameos in this particular story, but full on roles in the next one/s. And no, I'd rather not have any other Ocs in this story. I'm trying to keep as few reoccurring ones as I possibly can. Alright then, shinigami.**


	8. Tear Ducts

Lily stared out the window that Monday morning. All around her she could hear the hustle and bustle of her family getting ready for their day, but it was muted. It was like the world was passing her by while she ignored it in favor of the snow and people outside. Her fingers curled around her mug, eyes narrowing when she felt a hand on her head. "Lily, you don't have to go to school today."

"I'm fine." Her words were hoarse. "I've got a quiz to go to, and there's a few things Sana needs help with."

She ignored her mother's sigh as she stood up from the table, taking her coffee with her to her room. It was far too early to deal with the sympathy and knowing looks her parents were bound to have. Last night her mother had told her something similar before she had gone to bed, but she had dismissed it, just as she did that morning. Her gaze swept over her room until it landed on her shoes, coat, and bag beside her bed. She set down her coffee and finished dressing, her teeth knowing at her cheek. "I'm fine. Today's a normal day, and I'm fine."

She repeated the mantra as she picked up her bag and shoes, going to the door so she could leave. She passed by her father, who pat her head in the same annoying fashion that her mother did. "Lily, if you need anything, you're free to call us."

"I know." She slipped her winter boots on. "I'm leaving now."

She barely heard her father's goodbye as she walked out the door. The entire walk to school was stifling. There were too many people out on the streets, their chatter was making her head hurt, and she swore she could feel more stares than usual. She took a steady breath and clutched her bag tighter to her chest. "I'm fine. Today's a normal day and I'm fine."

Eventually she managed to trudge to the front gates of the school. Her fellow students were far chattier than usual, the female students were holding bright packages, while the males stared at them longingly. In a normal case Lily would probably laugh and guess who would be getting the chocolates, but the mere sight of them annoyed her. Her body stiffened when she heard her name called, upon turning she caught sight of orange hair and a large smile as Mami ran up to her. "Today's a normal day..."

* * *

Juuzou kicked at his shoes for the third time in the past ten minutes. He wasn't especially fond of normal shoes, and thus he rarely wore them, but Shinohara had insisted upon them today. There was enough snow on the ground to hide his feet, and so Shinohara had made him wear normal shoes so that he wouldn't get sick. Juuzou had loudly protested, and had pointed out that he'd never gotten sick before, but then Shinohara said he would take away his sweets. He growled and flexed his toes, hidden away in the damned shoes. They made his feet sweaty and he hated having to tie them every single time he entered or exited certain buildings. All together they created an annoyance that only managed to irritate him. This was compounded as he scribbled in the needed information as he did paperwork. Shinohara was in a meeting with the other special investigators, leaving him behind to play catch up with all the paperwork he had done his best to avoid. He yawned and popped one of his fingers as he moved to the next box, his red eyes lazily scanning the question.

This paperwork had nothing to do with the church case, instead it was for a ghoul, code named Thrift, that had terrorized the local homeless population. Juuzou had personally eliminated him in January. It wasn't an especially hard mission, and it felt like there was more paperwork than needed for such a small time ghoul. It hadn't even put up much of a fight, if Juuzou didn't know better, he'd say the ghoul wanted to die. Nor that he'd blame her, most of the homeless were malnourished and smelled horribly, he doubted they made for a good meal.

He doubted his Mama would have tolerated those types of meals. The humans she would drag in were always healthy with just enough fat to make the knife easily slip into their skin. And that skin was always soft, even the slightest cut of his knife would cause them to bleed and scar. His eyes narrowed and he kicked the edge of his shoes again, this time managing to catch the back of the desk. A pile of papers wobbled thanks to his disruption, and the picture of Shinohara's family toppled over. Almost on instinct he leaned forward and righted it, not even paying much attention to the action. "This is so boring!"

He dropped the pen and stood up. The paperwork would survive by itself for a few minutes, he was going to go find something to eat. That cake he ate before work had managed to pass through him already. His stomach growled as he remembered the orange and sugar sweet. He was going to have to get Lily to cook for him again sometime, it was the only useful thing she was capable of doing. Speaking of the the younger girl, he wondered how much longer they would be keeping her around. Shinohara said that they would be questioning 'Aki's' old clients that afternoon, and that would bring them closer to the finish line. Then he could slaughter the ghouls that the church was hiding, and finally get his very own quinque.

He pushed his money into the snack machine, and slammed the button that would give him a pack of hard candies. "You abandoned the paperwork I see."

Juuzou didn't even look at him as he yanked out his candy. "I got hungry. It's not not like a few minutes will make the paperwork any later."

"It's late because you've been putting it off Juuzou." Shinohara followed the boy back to the office. "You're going to have to get used to it, how do you think you get promotions?"

"By killing ghouls."

"And paperwork." He fished for a something inside his coat, and took it out of his pocket, and set it on the desk. There was a warrant that would allow them to freely question the strippers and their clientele.

* * *

The strip club was almost empty when Shinohara and Juuzou went that afternoon. There were a few old men staring at the young women as they twirled on poles or brought them drinks. Shinohara made a beeline to the bar, this time it was manned by a blue haired girl that looked like she was in high school. When she noticed them she put on a shakes smile and gave a shallow bow. "Welcome, what drinks can I get you today?"

"None, today." Shinohara took the warrant out of his pocket and set in front of her. "If you could help us with the investigation of Tachibana Nana, that would be helpful."

The girl's eyes widened and a scarred hand pressed itself against her mouth. To Juuzou it looked like a guilty action, as if some type of cover had just been blown. But he was surprised to see tears running down her face, and ruining her makeup.

"Y-you're really looking for Aki-san?" Shinohara nodded, and the tears streamed down faster. "I'm so happy. Even though we're only strippers and aren't that important, it's nice to know that the CCG is looking for the ghoul." She wiped the tears with the back of her hand, the shaky smile returning. "It's stupid, I know, but it's nice to pretend that someone cares."

"A ghoul killing is a ghoul killing." Juuzou said."The ghoul doesn't care what your job is, so long as it can eat."

The girl stared at him for a moment before she shook her head. "Still, I'm glad the CCG is searching for it." She pointed to the door that connected to a back room. "Do I need to get my boss, she could tell you more than me."

Shinohara nodded. "That would be helpful."

The girl set down the cocktail shaker before going to the back. Only moments later Tsuki came back out, a glare on her face and hands on her hips. This time she bothered to wear clothes, even though it was a thin dress that barely covered everything. "So you're back, did you need a measure of Aki's tit size?"

"Actually, we're here to get a list of her clients so we can speak to them."

The woman pursed her lips. "You think one of them was the ghoul?"

Shinohara tapped the paper on the bar. "It's just to help with the investigation. I'm assuming you would have it since you hire the strippers, and take the shares of the tips that come through."

Tsuki gave a sharp laugh that sounded more like a dry cough. "You know how the business works do ya? Yes I have a list, but it ain't the type of thing that'll give you answers." She tilted her head toward the blue haired girl. "Sluts keep their secrets among themselves, never to their boss, and absolutely not to a client. You're better talking to the newbie than me." She raised a finger when Shinohara opened his mouth. "I'm not saying I won't bring the list, I'm just telling you not to get your hopes up."

With that the woman turned on her heel and went to the back room. The blue haired girl blushed a dark red when the investigators' attention wandered back over to her. "I-I don't know if I'll be any help. Aki-san just helped me get this job, she never really spoke to me about her personal life or anything."

"That's fine," Shinohara said. "anything you say can help us with the investigation. Just tell us what you know."

The girl nodded and took a deep breath. "Well, she was really nice. If another girl didn't make as much money, she always gave her some so they could get their bills paid. Aki-san,"The girl swallowed a lump in her throat. Aki-san never had a bad day with her tips. She made all sorts of money since she was on the top tier."

"And what's that?"

The girl held up one finger on both hands, and staggered them so that one was higher than the other. "Every girl is on a tier. Some girls are higher and have a larger fee."She wiggled the higher finger. "While other girls aren't that special and so they're on the lower tiers, making them get less money." She wiggled the lower finger.

"What tier was Aki on?" Shinohara asked.

Juuzou yawned, not bothering to hide his boredom with the topic. Why did they need to know all the useless information? What they needed to know was if the woman was doing something that would piss off her husband enough to kill her.

"Aki was on the highest tier." She said. "The clients really liked that she was married, and that she was willing to act out any fantasy, that's how she climbed up the ranks so quickly. That, and she attracted the attention of Yamato Ujiki."

Juuzou twisted around at that, a grin stretched across his lips. "Yamato-san comes here?"

Yamato Ujiki was an interrogator for Cochelea that occasionally worked with the Eleventh Ward CCG branch office. He was almost always busy, it was said that his schedule was what caused his nasty divorce. Juuzou didn't think he was the type of man to haunt strip clubs, may be that was the real reason his wife left.

The girl nodded. "He's the wealthiest man that comes here. He would always ask for Aki-san, and that helped her climb up the tiers." Her eyebrows furrowed. "Most of the other girls wouldn't touch him with a ten foot pole. Every time they have a session with him, they end up crying and never work with him again, even though he gives them a lot of money."

The door opened up again and Tsuki came back out, a small red booklet in her hand. "I hope Aoi-chan was of some help. If not then you're shit out of luck." She slammed the book down. "This is every client that Aki had a private audience with in the last six months. Basically since she began working here since she was a bit of newbie as well."

Juuzou grabbed the book before Shinohara could, laughing when he caught of Ujiki. He was staring right at the camera with his signature stoic expression, his brown eyes narrowed, and brown hair messy. His name was next to his photograph, and there was a few tally marks next to it. "Has he had sex with Tachibana-san?"

Tsuki sat on the bar and crossed her legs, causing her dress to hike up her thighs."How should I know? I told you those types of things aren't discussed with the boss, it IS illegal you know." She flicked some of her long hair over shoulder. "But since I'm such a great boss I won't say a thing if my newbie tells you something."

So I shook her head, face turning a brighter shade of red, Juuzou wondered if the girl was getting sick. "IlK don't know, she told me not to get involved with things like that. You'll have to ask her customers, a-and if she did they wouldn't tell you anyway."

"Don't worry Aoi-san," Juuzou shut the book, a grin curled on his lips. "I'm very persuasive."

* * *

Lily stared at her text book. A pencil was poised in one hand and her notebook was set to the side. It was lunch hour and she should be eating, but she forgot to get her lunch in her rush to get to the door. Usually she would just split Sana's lunch, but she didn't have the patience to deal with her right then. A low buzzing rumbled from her bag, earning the attention of a few students. She scooped up her bag and slid the phone out of the outside pocket. On the screen Shinohara's name flashed in red, there was also a few texts from him as well. She clicked the ignore button and put the phone back. She flinched backwards when a pink box was flung on her desk, the blue bow bouncing then becoming thanks to the harsh treatment. "Uh..."

"They're friendship chocolates." Sana sat on the corner of the desk, a frown poised on her features. "I thought they could cheer you up."

"Thanks." She pushed them back to Sana. "I-I don't want any though. I'll probably make some cookies when I get home."

"Lily-chan." A pale hand covered her own. "You can't be unresponsive forever. I know you're in mourning today, but I don't think Yukimura would want you to be sad. He was always looking for adventure, and there's no adventure in mourning."

Lily remained silent, letting the words slide over her like water, just to go down the drain. She didn't need someone to tell her to come out of mourning, she knew that herself. It wasn't that she liked the cold feeling that was stuck in her bones, and the never ending threat of years that wanted to escape. She knew she had to get over the fact that Yukimura was dead.

It was just hard.

Last Valentine's day she had spent it with Yukimura. She'd made him chocolates, wrapped them up, and everything. And he had honestly been surprised by her gift. She wasn't very affectionate, so she had let his jabs at her slide, but still...She pressed her head against her text book, the fresh smell of pencil shavings invading her nose. She needed to mourn and get rid of this feeling, just rushing past it would only make things worse when his actual death date came in the next few of just crying her eyes out, she'd probably go through a depression and eat her feelings away

She raised her head when the bell rang, everyone rushed to their chairs as the Biology teacher promptly walked in. The next few hours rolled in a blur, leaving Lily behind as she meandered down memory lane. She barely even noticed when the bell rang for a final time, her day in and out routine taking over as she gathered her things and staggered home. She ignored Sana's offer to go to her house, and avoided Mami's request to go to a cafe she found in the Twentieth Ward. Even the cold didn't phase her as she marched through the snow, and to her apartment complex a good twenty minutes away. She climbed the stairway, and opened the door, not even noting that it was unlocked. Without taking off her shoes she went to her room, and shut the door behind her. She dropped her bag on the floor and stared at the metal picture frame sitting on her bookshelf, this one was set face down so you couldn't see the photo. She picked it up and stared at the smiling man staring back at her. A splotch of water fell onto the glass, and another one quickly followed. "Everything's normal...And I'm fine."

* * *

 **Review Response:**

 **drake: Awe, thanks. ^_^**


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